Feedback on battery charger timers…
Deep cycle battery manufacturer recommends daily timers on golf cart chargers during storage
Dear readers,
Here’s feedback on my article yesterday about putting a daily timer on a battery charger during RV storage. Note that this is from the Senior V.P. of Engineering for U.S. Battery Mfg., a major deep cycle battery manufacturer.
If you missed it, read my article on charger timers HERE.
Dear Mike,
Interesting coincidence, I just recommended this to a golf car battery customer today. Golf car customers in the South often leave for the summer but don’t want to leave their charger on in a hot garage while they are gone.
Unfortunately, when they return in the fall the batteries are flat because of the high self-discharge rate at high temperatures. They are sometimes so low in voltage that the golf car charger won’t even turn on and they have to recharge the batteries individually.
I always recommend they plug the golf car charger into an industrial timer and set it for 1 hour per day. That’s just enough to keep the batteries charged without risking thermal runaway in a hot garage. When they come back in the fall, the batteries are charged and ready to go without cooking all the water out if left charging with no time limit.
Everyone,
If you do this please make sure you get a waterproof timer rated for 15 amperes of current,. And be sure to use a heavy duty extension cord just in case your charger starts drawing excessive current for some reason.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
Mike, do you know if the remote timer is connected directly to the golf cart battery and then into its ‘port’ OR is the remote timer connected to a battery tender connected to the presumably main pos and neg connectors in the 6 battery array? Thx much.
Mike, One of the biggest enemies of a lead acid battery is sulfation. Especially in cases where the battery sits for long periods of time. I have 14 such situations on which I use a battery maintainer with a desulfation mode. This maintains the state of charge without overcharging as it only puts out 1 or 2 amps, as well as breaking up sulfation. This greatly enhances battery life. Also, the charge is temperature compensated. Another enemy of a battery is the fact that any time the state of charge gets below 50% it shortens the life. These maintainers solve both problems. The maintainers I use are sold by Northern Tool Item # 167981-1561. I'm Shure there are other manufactures.